Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

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Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources is a 1983 biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad by Martin Lings. Lings is at his weakest in one of his final chapters entitled “The Degrees” (LXXXI), which is replete with incautious interpretations or misreporting of Quran and Hadith. Inherent in the reality of degrees and levels in the Religion is the notion of the elite of humankind, the Believers, and the elite of the Believers, the Friends of God. However, Lings turns this notion into a skewed elitism which characterizes the massive majority of people as blind (LXXXI, 329, 3): “Degrees of superiority are also implied by the Revelation in its mention of the heart. In speaking of the majority, it says: Not blind are the eyes, but blind are the hearts within the breasts.” The commentaries are clear that it is not “the majority” at all who are meant but the disbelievers in general, and the disbelievers of Mecca at the time of the Prophet in particular.

A distinctive element of the biography is the vivid, approachable narrative style, [5] which is fast moving and flows fluently. [3] The book reads more like a novel [6] and was written in a style, which is easily readable, [2] comprehensible and it uses language, which reflects both simplicity and grandeur. [4] The Eleventh Hour: the Spiritual Crisis of the Modern World in the Light of Tradition and Prophecy (2002), Archetype, ISBN 1-901383-01-6 Age of Ayesha at the time of her marriage with Muhammad - which according to correct research was between 16-19 years.

Among his 12 books was The Eleventh Hour (1987), a profound study of the spiritual crisis of the mod- ern world, for which he had prepared the ground with Ancient Beliefs And Modern Superstitions (1965), and What Is Sufism? (1975), a corrective to many mis- understandings about this aspect of Islam. Symbol And Archetype: A Study Of The Meaning Of Existence (1991) demonstrated his grasp of traditional symbolism. Splendors of Qur'an Calligraphy And Illumination (2005), Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation, Thames & Hudson, ISBN 0-500-97648-1 In recent weeks, made the point of reading this very important Seerah/Biography of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH-SAW) by Martin Lings entitled: Muhammad his life based on earliest sources after being reminded when the late Queen Elizabeth II passed away on 8th September 2022 and her immediate successor monarch - eldest in seniority former Prince Charles now known as King Charles III - who highly recommended this book due to his historic views on ‘building Bridges between Islam and the west’.

This book is not a melodramatic or emotional account of the Prophet Muhammad. For that, you have to look elsewhere. It is instead a beautifully composed account of the Prophet Muhammad based directly on some of the earliest sources to the Prophet Muhammad including Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, Waqidi, Azraqi, Tabari, and Suhayli.From then on, he wrote constantly. For Muslims, his masterpiece was Muhammad: His Life Based On The Earliest Sources (1983), for which he was decorated by Zia al-Haq, then president of Pakistan. For Lings himself, however, the most important event whilst at Oxford was his discovery of the writings of René Guénon, a French metaphysician and Muslim convert, and those of Frithjof Schuon, a German spiritual authority, metaphysician and Perennialist. In 1938, Lings went to Basel to make Schuon's acquaintance. This prompted him to embrace the branch of the Alawiyya tariqa led by Schuon. Thereafter, Lings remained Schuon's disciple and expositor for the rest of his life. [4] Career [ edit ] Upon its first edition, the book was subject to criticism by some Muslims who decried the "Perennialist poison" in the book. The author gave public answer in a Saudi newspaper to the objections. [13] Awards [ edit ]